Inflatable chair



Oct. 29, 1968 SAVAGE 3,408,107

'. INFLATABLE CHAIR Filed Feb. 9. 1967 Q INVENTOR.

Ag Brian 0. Surge B Y 19 M W (/0 Affamggs United States Patent 3,408,107 INFLATABLE CHAIR Brian D. Savage, Birmingham, Ala, assignor, by direct and mesne assignments, of fifty percent to George G. Plosser and fifty percent to Julia W. Barber Filed Feb. 9, 1967, Ser. No. 615,013 Claims. (Cl. 297,456)

ABSTRACT 01? THE DISCLOSURE An inflatable chain having a cushion-like seat secured between upper'and lower sheets of flexible material with the seat being intermediate the ends of the'sheets. The sheets are connected to each other to define air tight chambers at opposite sides of theseat. Generally triangular shaped gussets are mounted between the sheets in onechamber with the upper edges of the gussets extending downwardly toward theseat to define a downwardly sloping body support portion. A cushion is adjustably connected to the body support portion.

Background of the invention Brief summary of invention In accordance with my invention I provide an inflatable.

chair having upper and lower flexible sheets connected intermediate their ends to -a cushion-like seat. The flexible sheets are connected to each other to provide airtight compartments at opposite sides of the cushion-like seat for supporting the body of the user at one side of the seat and the legs of the user at the other side of the seat. Gusset-like members are mounted between the portions of the upper and lower sheets which support the body of a user with the upper edges of the gussets sloping downwardly toward the seat. The inclination of the body supporting portion may be adjusted by varying the amount of gas within the body supporting portion. An inflatable head rest is carried by the body supporting portion and is adapted for adjustment relative thereto so that the head piece may be placed at selected positions.

An inflatable chair embodying features of. my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the inflatable chair;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the chair shown in FIG. 1 showing an alternate position of the head rest in dotted lines; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 44 of FIG. 1.

Referring now to the drawing for a better understanding of my invention, I show a lower sheet of flexible material and an upper sheet of flexible material 11. The sheets 10 and 11 are formed of a suitable flexible material, such as plastic or the like. Mounted between the sheets 10 and 11, as shown in FIG. 2, is a cushion-like seat 12 which is preferably formed of a soft material, such as sponge rubber. The sheets 10 and 11 are secured Ice to the lower and upper surfaces of the seat 2 by suitable means, such as by an adhesive.

The sheets 10 andll are connected to each other as at 13 by suitable means, such as by heat sealing to define closed compartments 14 and'16'at opposite sides of the seat 12..The compartment 14 is substantially larger than the compartment 16, as shown in FIG. 2 and is adapted to support the body of a user while the portion 16 Sup ports the legs of a user. -Mounted between the sheets 10 and 11 within the compartment 14 area plurality of gusset members 17 each of which is formed of a flexible material and is provided with an upper edge which slopes downwardly toward the seat 12, as shown in FIG. 2, to define an inclined support for the bodyof a user. The upper and lower edges of the gusset members 17 are secured to the sheets 11- and 10 by suitable means, such as by heat sealing or by employing a suitable adhesive or solvent for bonding the adjacent members to each other.

As shown in FIG. 4, the portions of the sheets 10 and 11 outwardly of the gusset member 17 are of a size to provide enlarged, arm supporting portions 18 at opposite sides of the chair when fully inflated. A conventional type valve 19 is provided at one side of the chamber 14 for inflating and deflating the chair. As shown in FIG. 1, suitable passageways 15 are provided at opposite sides of the seat 12 whereby the gas introduced through valve 19 is free to pass to the compartment 16.

Secured to the exterior portion of the compartment 14 as at 21 is one end of a flexible member 22. The other end of the flexible member 22 is secured to an arcuate shaped head rest 23 which is in the form of an inflatable cushion. A suitable gas, such as air, is introduced into the cushion 23 through a valve member 24 whereby the size of the cushion may be varied by varying the amount of air introduced. One element of a snap-type fastener unit 26 is carried by the flexible member 22 in position to engage another element of the fastener 26 which is carried by the flexible member 22 in spaced relation to the first element whereby the effective length of the flexible member 22 is varied to thus vary the position of the head the drawings, whereby the gusset members 17 are fully extended. By providing the triangular gusset members 17, a central portion of the compartment 14 is retained in a common plane, as shown, while the arm portions 18 move to an elevated position at opposite sides of the central portion. The inflatable cushion 23 is inflated by introducing a gas through the valve 24, the size of the cushion 23 depending upon the amount of air introduced, The cushion 23 may be moved from a position outwardly of the compartment 14, as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 3, to a position over the compartment 14, as shown in solid lines. Where it is desired to reduce the inclination of the body support, the valve 19 is opened to exhaust air until the upper sheet 11 moves downwardly the desired distance. Since the gusset members 17 are formed of a flexible material, the gusset members merely collapse as the gas is exhausted.

The device may also be employed for supporting the user in a substantially horizontal plane by exhausting the gas until the upper sheet 11 extends in a plane slightly above the elevation of the seat 12. Also, the inflatable 3 cushion 23 may be used while the upper sheet 11 is in a generally horizontal plane or in an inclined plane, as shown.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have devised an improved inflatable chainBy providing a cushion-like seat 12 which supports the user at a predetermined elevation regardless of the extent that the compartments 14 and 16 are inflated, the user is always supported by the resilient cushion 12. By providing the triangular gusset members 17 between the sheets and 11 in the compartment 14, the central portion of the compartment 14 remains in a common plane even though the upper sheet 11 moves to an inclined position relative to the lower sheet 10, thus supporting the user comfortably between the arm members 18. This structure supports the user firmly between the arm members 18 whereby there is no tendency of the user to tilt from one side of the chair to the other. Also, the gusset members 17 form batfle members which prevent the air from rushing laterally from one side of the compartment'14 to the other beneath the body of a user. By varying the amount of gas introduced into the compartments 14 and 16, inclination of the upper sheet 11 is varied to thus support the user at any desired elevation. Furthermore, by providing an inflatable cushion 23 which may be moved to selected positions over the compartment 14 or to a non-use position, the user may be supported at any desired elevation. The head rest 23 is particularly adapted for use in watching television where it is desired to tilt the head forwardly. By constructing the chair of a plastic-like material, the chair is adapted for use outdoors, such as on a beach, patio or the like. The chair is particularly adapted for use by invalids due to the fact that the chair may be moved from a sitting position to a fully horizontal position whereby the chair may be employed as a chair or as a bed, thus eliminating danger of the invalid falling as he gets into and out of the device.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various other changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An inflatable chair comprising:

(a) a resilient cushion-like seat,

(b) an upwardly inclined body supporting sheet of flexible material connected adjacent the lowermost end thereof to one side of said seat and .of a length to support the body of a user,

(c) a lower sheet of flexible material spaced vertically beneath said upwardly inclined sheet and connected adjacent one end thereof to said one side of the seat,

(c) means connecting the uppermost end of said upwardly inclined sheet to the adjacent end of said lower sheet and defining at said one side of and separate from said seat an inflatable chamber for supporting the body of aiuser,

(e) upstanding, flexible, gusset-like sheets spaced laterally from each other and extending between and secured to said upwardly inclined sheet and said lower within said inflatable chamber to retain said upwardly inclined sheet at an acute angle relative to said lower sheet and support the head. of a user an elevation above said seat,

(f) an upper leg supporting sheet of flexible material connected adjacent one end thereof to the other side of said seat from the side thereof connected to said upwardly inclined sheet,

(g) an under sheet of flexible material spaced vertically beneath said upper leg supporting sheet and @connected adjacent one end thereof to said other side of the seat,

(h) means connecting the other ends of said upper leg supporting sheet and said under sheet to each other to define an inflatable leg supporting chamber at said other side of and separated from said seat, and

(i) means to introduce gas into said inflatable chamhers.

2. An inflatable chair as defined in claim 1 in which said flexible, gusset-like sheets terminate inwardly of the means connecting the uppermost end of said upwardly inclined sheet to said lower sheet to define a gas passageway therebetween and said gusset-like sheets are generally triangular as viewed in side elevation with the upper edges thereof sloping downwardly toward said seat and extending longitudinally of said upwardly inclined sheet.

3. An inflatable chair as defined in claim 1 in which said seat is a pad of sponge rubber-like material.

4. An inflatable chair as defined in claim 1 in which a gas passageway is provided adjacent at least one side of said seat communicating said inflatable, body supporting chamber with said inflatable leg supporting chamber.

5. An inflatable chair as defined in claim 1 in which said upwardly inclined sheet extends laterally and outwardly beyond said gusset-like sheets to define enlarged arm supporting portions at opposite sides of the chair.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS H 2,437,602 3/ 1948 Hann 297456 2,582,439 1/ 1952 Kavanagh 5348 2,612,645 10/ 1952 Roland 5-341 2,843,181 7/1958 Paschen, 297456 3,017,221 1/1962 Emery 297397 3,265,438 8/ 1966 Regan et al 297456 X FOREIGN PATENTS 292,021 10/1953 Switzerland.

CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner. 

